Bird Walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park

I'm a little late writing this post as the monthly bird walk at Lake Arrowhead State Park was Saturday, January 12 (well, okay, a lot late.)

Bonaparte's gull, photo by Dick Daniels
Wikimedia Commons

Forster's tern, photo by Dick Daniels
Wikimedia Commons

It was a cold day, but Lynn showed, so she and I checked out the birds. Admittedly, we didn't go as slowly as usual and finished the walk in just over an hour. That being said, we found some good birds. The best birds from my point of view were the Bonaparte's gulls and Forster's terns.


We had only one woodpecker, a northern flicker, seen within just a couple of minutes of me saying, "I haven't seen any flickers this winter."

Birds seen (not included on this list is a Wilson's snipe that Lynn caught on camera that I don't recall seeing--one of my favorites):

Canada goose
American coot
Northern shoveler
Gadwall
Double-crested cormorant
White pelican
Pied-billed grebe
Ring-billed gull
Bonaparte's gull
Forster's tern
Kildeer
Greater yellowlegs
Lesser yellowlegs
Western sandpiper
Northern flicker
Northern mockingbird
Northern cardinal
Eastern phoebe
Bewick's wren
Harris's sparrow
White-crowned sparrow
Orange-crowned warbler

Not a bad hour on a cold morning.

Don't forget the monthly bird walks at Lake Arrowhead SP are on the 2nd Saturday of each month, starting at 8 AM. Park entry fees apply--get there a little early as the ranger station won't be open yet, so you'll need to make out your fee envelope. We meet at the dump station area (2nd left after you enter the park, then the first right, on the left). Kids and novices are welcome.

Good birding!

Shorebird Weekend

I birded some on Saturday and on Monday at Lake Wichita. On Saturday I was conducting a Nature Trackers Mussel Watch and doing some invasives monitoring--I probably spent as much time birding as doing those projects. I started at the boat ramp off Kemp Blvd and walked down to the spillway, where there were several migrating shorebirds.

My species list for Saturday morning at Lake Wichita: Canada goose, American coot, mallard, great egret, cattle egret, Forster's tern, spotted sandpiper, white-rumped sandpiper, Baird's sandpiper, killdeer, Wilson's phalarope, black-necked stilt, double-crested cormorant, turkey vulture, rock pigeon, mourning dove, northern mockingbird, cardinal, yellow warbler, barn swallow, cliff swallow, red-winged blackbird, great-tailed grackle, common grackle, European starling, and house sparrow.

I then drove over to Crestview Cemetery, which has two small ponds. There I added lark sparrow, bobwhite, upland sandpiper, and scissor-tailed flycatcher.

On Monday I birded for about an hour, starting behind Wild Bird Rescue and then walking down the chat trail to the barrow pit. Behind Wild Bird Rescue I saw my first orchard oriole of the year, scissor-tailed flycatcher, white-rumped sandpiper, great-tailed grackle, white-winged dove, purple martin, great blue heron, red-winged blackbird and European starling. In Lake Wichita Park along the chat trail and barrow pit, I added mallard, canvasback, American coot, ruddy duck, black-necked stilt, great egret, Mississippi kite, Eurasian collared dove, American robin, northern mockingbird, yellow warbler, eastern phoebe, Carolina chickadee, northern cardinal, barn swallow, my first of season yellow-billed cuckoo, and chipping sparrow.

I was also lucky on the chat trail seeing a large red-eared slider and a rough green snake.

This morning while visiting the bank, I saw a green heron behind American National Bank on Midwestern/Maplewood.

Overall, a very good weekend. The only thing that could have made it even better would have been a lifer.

I got some email that there has been a brown pelican over between Seymour and Munday and a curve-billed thrasher on the north side of Lake Arrowhead State Park. It is a little far to drive for the brown pelican, unless I make a birding day of it. Haven't had any luck with the curve-billed thrasher.

Good birding!